FMC events

Very exciting times here at FMC â€” we’ve got a brand-new website with all the bells and whistles (or most of ‘em, anyway), and we’ve opened up registration for Policy Summit 2009, which takes place October 4-6 at Georgetown University in DC. There’s some other stuff, too, but we won’t spoil it for you… read on for the details!

1. Registration opens for Policy Summit 2009!2. FMC launches new website
3. â€œJuly Giving Campaign” a huge success, thanks to you!
4. New York State edition of “Same Old Song” radio report
5. Kristin Thomson on Mediageek Radioshow
6. More movement on LPFM7. Best of FutureBlog round-up8. HealthCare Remix panel at SEIU9. How are we doing?

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We want YOUR input about FMC events! We'd love it if you could spare about a minute of your time (literally, like 60 seconds) to take a five-question survey about our Policy Summit, and FMC events in general. It's a great way for previous attendees to give feedback, and those who haven't been to our conferences can plug in, too. For your time, we'll automatically enter you into a raffle to win one complimentary registration to Policy Summit 2009 at Georgetown University in DC on October 4-6. . .We know it's Monday morning and everything, but we at FMC are unusually giddy. No, it's not that triple-shot espresso -- although that feels pretty good, too -- we're just excited about FMC's 2009 Policy Summit, which takes place at Georgetown University on October 4-6. read more

Back in 2005, I watched Public Enemy producer Hank Shocklee and funk godfather George Clinton debate this issue at a conference in D.C. Shocklee played increasingly short snippets of a song and wondered how much he should pay for the right to use each sample, as commercial hip-hop artists routinely do. Eventually, only a fraction of a note was left. “Am I stealing your performance… or am I just looking for the sound?”

The Future of Music Coalition is a group dedicated to education, research, and advocacy for musicians. In an effort to sort through the quagmire of confusion these days over rights, intellectual property and the effects of new media, the group conducts Policy Days, discussions between representatives of many of the major players. The 2009 Policy Day certainly brought together a wealth of ideas and personalities, though no grand conclusions. read more

This past Wednesday marked the Future of Music Coalition?s third annual Policy Day, which brought together music policy wonks with an array of music industry professionals including artists, entrepreneurs, and independent label heads to discuss a multitude of legal and technological issues ? some incredibly arcane?facing our ailing industry.
?The goal of Policy Day 2009 was to take advantage of the curiosity and interest generated by the recent changes in the policy landscape,? said FMC spokesperson Casey Rae-Hunter, ?and to examine what these changes might mean for musicians, artist advocates, fans, entrepreneurs, industry professionals and policymakers.?

In February, the Future of Music Coalition hosted their 2009 Policy Day event in Washington DC to examine the issues ?at the intersection of music, technology, policy and law?.
The panelists tackled some of the most contentious issues surrounding the music industry?s future including media ownership rules, public performance royalties, network neutrality, copyright reform and fair compensation models in the digital music marketplace.

The Future of Music Coalition held its annual Policy Day here at the Washington, DC, headquarters of the National Geographic Society on Wednesday.The event itself was an interesting mashup, bringing together the wonks who are regular fixtures in DC tech policy circles with the artists and entrepreneurs who are actually producing all this “innovation” that good tech policy is supposed to promote.
On purely aesthetic grounds, I feel I can die happy having seen Public Enemy’s Hank Shocklee seated next to policy geek ne plus ultra Ben Scott, of Free Press, at a panel on “Internet and Spectrum Policy and the Creative Class.” (In which context it’s actually Ben who deserves the moniker “Rebel Without a Pause.”) Here are some of the points from each speaker that leapt out at me.

WASHINGTON—With a new administration and a Democratic Congress, now is the time to overhaul copyright law, advocates for reform said Wednesday—but the complex nature of the issue makes copyright legislation nearly as unrealistic as ever.Representatives of songwriters and the recording industry faced off against open Internet advocates at the Future of Music Coalition’s Policy Day here in Washington, demonstrating the entrenched divisions that remain within Democratic constituencies over copyright issues.

There are good people doing good things in New Orleans, and they’re making a difference. An organization called Sweet Home New Orleans, for example, are specifically addressing the issue I’m talking about, keeping New Orleans’ cultural heritage alive by repatriating the city’s musicians and culture bearers. Through financial counseling services and rental, relocation, and renovation assistance, SHNO has made it possible for several hundred of the city’s musicians, second-line dancers, and Mardi Gras Indians to return home and begin rebuilding the city’s culture along with its buildings. Check them out, and consider donating. Their goal for this year is to stabilize 500 more individuals and they could use your help.